


Want You Back

by clizziem



Series: Don't Smile at Me [18]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Bullying, Gen, Harassment, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jet's an asshole, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Protective Azula (Avatar), Suicidal Thoughts, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28735371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clizziem/pseuds/clizziem
Summary: Zuko watches Azula go off to the middle school down the block and he stares at the giant brick building in front of him. He knows that everyone from eighth grade will still be there so to some people, his scar won’t be anything new.But all the upperclassmen haven’t seen it. And of course, there are kids who went to different middle schools. So the vast majority of this school hasn’t seen his face before. He tugs on his beanie and pulls his hood over his head.Zuko's hellish freshman year
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Jet & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Don't Smile at Me [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2079291
Comments: 10
Kudos: 199





	Want You Back

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! I felt like writing angst so this happened. TW for suicidal thoughts but they're pretty fleeting. Still, be careful and take care of yourselves. Also, one for bullying and a teeny bit of harassment because Jet's an asshole.  
> Enjoy!

Zuko watches Azula go off to the middle school down the block and he stares at the giant brick building in front of him. He knows that everyone from eighth grade will still be there so to some people, his scar won’t be anything new.

But all the upperclassmen haven’t seen it. And of course, there are kids who went to different middle schools. So the vast majority of this school hasn’t seen his face before. He tugs on his beanie and pulls his hood over his head.

Maybe they’ll let him keep it up.

He keeps his eyes trained at the ground until someone bumps him on the stairs. He flinches and his hood falls.

“Watch where you’re going-” a boy’s voice says and Zuko looks up to see a guy with a beard and wide brown eyes.

Staring at his scar.

“Holy shit,” he mutters, and Zuko bolts. “Watch out, Scarface!” The guy calls after him. Zuko’s eyes get warm and he stops running once he’s inside.

He whines and tugs on his sleeves. There are so many people and so many stairs and he knows people are slowing down to stare at him and he can already hear the whispers.

“Holy shit-”

“How did he get that?”

“Fuck, that’s ugly.”

Zuko pulls his hood back up and heads towards his advisory, trying to ignore that he’s already close to tears.

He wants Azula here.

He’s completely on his own for an entire year.

“Zuko Hayashi?” His advisor, Mr. Peng, calls out. Zuko raises his hand and Peng nods at him before marking him off.

“Wait. Hayashi?” A boy Zuko’s never seen before asks. Zuko turns around and nods. “Like Ozai Hayashi?”

Zuko’s stomach churns at his father’s name but he nods again. The boy glowers and stands up.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You silver spoon sucking mother-”

“Jet! That’s enough!” Mr. Peng calls out and Zuko barely resists the temptation to cover his ears. Jet sits down again but Zuko can feel his glare burning through his hoodie and backpack.

Azula:  _ What time’s your lunch? _

Zuko: _ 11:45 _

Azula:  _ Okay, me too. Come eat outside with me. _

Zuko finds Azula sitting on the grass between the two buildings with her lunchbox open in front of her. Zuko sits down next to her and Azula immediately starts handing him extra food she snuck out of the house.

“Thanks,” Zuko murmurs and starts nibbling on a sandwich.

“No worries,” Azula says and starts eating a granola bar. “How were the first few periods?”

“Everyone already hates me,” Zuko says. Azula scoffs and stretches her legs out.

“I doubt that’s true.”

“Someone called me Scarface on my way into the building and another kid in my advisory hates me because Dad’s rich.”

“Oh,” Azula says and scoots closer to him. “Well, that’s not everyone.”

Zuko shrugs and finishes off the sandwich and digs into a protein bar Azula packed him. “It’s not like I’m going to make any friends.”

“You might,” Azula says. Zuko shakes his head and swipes angrily at a stray tear that rolls down his cheek.

“I...I can’t, Zula. I can’t.”

“Someone will see you,” she insists. “And they’ll want to be your friend. I can tell you that people are just stupid if they don’t want to be your friend. You’re great.”

Zuko huffs a laugh and wipes his eyes. “How am I supposed to survive nine months of this?” He asks.

“Same way you’ve survived everything else. Pure spite and undying perseverance.”

He tries for a while. For maybe a month he tries to talk to new people and make a new friend or two.

He’s rebuffed every time. People are either put off by his face or don’t know how to talk to him or think he’s weird.

He stops trying and just...exists. He doesn’t speak in class, he floats through the halls like a ghost, and he goes home to get beaten. Azula helps him when he’s at home and on the bus, but otherwise, he just listens to whispers and feels stares bore into him.

He hates existing.

Zuko holds his ribs and tries not to have a panic attack when the gym teacher starts setting dodgeballs onto the blue line that cuts the basketball court in half. He tried to talk his way out of playing but Mr. Huu said he had to have a doctor’s note. Zuko’s not sure how many minutes he spent in the corner of his room with his father’s foot slamming into his chest and stomach this morning. But his ribs are aching and he’s slow and sluggish with pain.

And Jet’s staring at like a predator with its prey.

“Alright,” Mr. Huu says and steps away from the court. “I won’t make you pick your teammates so just try and distribute yourselves evenly.”

Zuko exhales with relief that he doesn’t have to stand there in a line until he’s the last one waiting to get picked.

“Yeah, we all know who’d get picked last,” Jet mutters to one of his friends and Zuko hears a snicker.

“Can he even see out that eye?” Another kid asks and Zuko tugs on his sleeves while some people move between sides.

“Okay, that looks good,” Huu calls out and blows his whistle. Everyone rushes forward to grab a ball and then the slaps and claps of balls hitting the gym floor start and it’s too much noise and too much of it sounds like his father chasing after him or getting hit and Zuko has to force himself to pick up a ball and throw. It doesn’t go far or even hit anyone. He’s shaking so much and flinching every time a ball lands near him.

“Come on, Zuko, get in there!” Huu calls from the sidelines and Zuko bites his lip so he won’t cry. He grabs another ball that rolls near his feet and throws it without really looking where it’s going.

Sokka practically leaps to avoid a ball thrown at him and lands near Jet, Bee, and Long. He picks up another ball and then frowns at what he overhears.

“Will you give me ten bucks if I can hit the scar?” Jet says with a glint in his eyes.

“He said no headshots, Jet. You could get in trouble,” Bee says. Jet shrugs and picks up a rubber ball by his feet.

“Headshots happen by accident all the time. I’ll just get taken out of the game until next round, it’s fine.”

“I guess,” Bee says and rushes to avoid another ball.

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Jet says. “Motherfucker’s got a big target.”

Long snickers a little and Jet gets ready to throw.

“Jet wait-” Sokka starts to say but it’s too late.

Jet’s hit his target.

The ball hits his face and Zuko’s immediately on the floor, covering his eye. The sound that comes out of his is animalistic and pathetic and he hates that he can’t control it. His face is flaring in remembered pain and the stinging from the ball.

He feels like he’s on fire again.

“Fuck, I’m sorry!” Jet says in a panicked voice. “I didn’t mean to!”

“I’m sure you didn’t, Jet,” Mr. Huu says. “But rules are rules. Off the court.”

Zuko hears rapid footsteps and he curls up when someone kneels down next to him.

“Do you need to step out?” Huu asks. Zuko nods and stands up slowly. His ribs scream in protest and now he’s gasping for air. Everything hurts so much, it’s like his body can’t fit any oxygen in it. There’s too much hurt.

As he’s walking out, he sees from his right Bee get knocked out of the game and meets Jet on the sidelines.

Zuko sees her hand Jet a ten-dollar bill.

Mr. Huu brings him to his office and gets an ice pack from a mini-fridge behind his desk. He sets it on the table and Zuko takes his hand away from his face and picks it.

Mr. Huu hums to himself and shakes his head. “Hell of an accident, huh?” He asks, nodding to the scar. Zuko bites his tongue and nods. “Does it hurt?”

Zuko nods again and sniffs. A tear rolls down his cheek and Mr. Huu stands up.

“Keep your chin up. You’re a man now, we don’t cry when we get hit with dodgeballs,” he says and then heads back to the gym. Zuko’s lip trembles and more tears fall. He sends a quick text to Azula and tries not to start sobbing. He keeps hearing one of his father’s favorite words to describe him.

Failure.

Failure.

Failure.

Men aren’t supposed to cry. But he’s fourteen and in pain. Zuko thinks he gets to cry.

He sits in Mr. Huu’s office on the verge of sobs for the rest of the class period. Eventually, his classmates start flooding out of the gym and he runs to hide behind the door when Jet walks out.

“How’s your eye, Hayashi?” Jet calls out and Zuko hears some laughs and he runs his fingertip across where his eyelashes should be. Then he hears something else. “Well, hello, Azula,” Jet drawls in a way that makes his skin crawl. “How are you doing, baby girl?”

“Leave her alone!” Zuko shouts from behind the door. He’s too much of a coward to face Jet right now, but he will if he has to.

“Say one more word to me and you’re losing a testicle,” Azula snaps back.

Yeah. He’s not going to have to.

“Aw, come on, don’t be like that-fuck!” Jet shouts after Zuko hears a blow land.

“Let’s just get out of here, she’s fucking crazy!” Bee says and he hears footsteps run down the hall. Zuko steps out from behind the door and Azula smirks at him.  
“Nice of you to try to defend my honor,” she says. “Where’s your backpack?”

“In..In the gym. What are you doing here?”

Azula shrugs. “You texted me and my class got out early.” She follows him into the gym and leans against the bleachers while he pops and aspirin. “Is that the one who hit you?”

“Who?”

“The one I punched in the dick.”

“Oh. Yeah. That’s Jet,” Zuko says and puts his backpack on.

“Seems like a piece of shit,” Azula says.

“He is.”

They fall quiet until they make it onto their bus. Azula nudges him while he lets his head fall against the window. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Zuko whispers. “I think I want to die.”

“Please don’t,” Azula says and leans on him. “I’d miss you too much.”

Zuko shuts his eyes and sighs. “Okay.”

The rest of his freshman year passes in a haze. Jet finds ways to torment him. Ozai beats him. Azula eats lunch with him. No one tries to talk to him unless they have to.

Azula made him promise one night to stay with her. To stay alive for her.

But after handing Ozai a report card riddled with Bs and Cs, it’s really hard to keep that promise.

“I expect all As from you next year, understood?” Ozai growls. Zuko nods and Ozai lets go of his throat and he falls to the floor in a bloody heap. He spits out a glob of blood and saliva and shuts his eyes.

At least next year he’ll have Azula in the same building.

**Author's Note:**

> I have at least one more part planned so stay tuned.  
> Also, I'm sorry.


End file.
